We’re giving you a greater insight into the list owners we work with and their databases by conducting interviews to generate some useful information to aid your decision making when choosing your direct marketing lists.

This week’s interview blog will introduce Chris Skinner, Intelligent Data Services’Group Account Director who will be answering questions about the quality of IDS’s Email Business and Business File. Chris Skinner was shortlisted for B2B Outstanding Data Provider at the Database Marketing Awards 2012 and Data Professional at The Data IQ awards 2013.The information provided will explain why their databases could make your direct marketing successful.

Introducing Intelligent Data Services

IDS are the UK’s leading data specialist and data owner of a comprehensive UK B2B database. Established in 2005; they were grown out of the desire to do things differently because they understand the vital role that direct marketing has within every business.

CS: Intelligent Data Services uses a multi pronged approach to cleansing their data which enables their files to be fully updated within a 12 month cycle. With the industry average for business to business data operating on an 18-24 month cycle, this ensures their data provides more correct contacts at more up to date locations than the competition which in turn creates a higher ROI for prospective clients.

MF: What are the unique selling points/benefits of your Email Business File?

CS: IDS’s business email file is double opt in which ensures responsive data in comparison to many companies who web scrape their email addresses. Standing at 850,000 contacts across nearly 600,000 locations across the UK, the dataset is the largest file of its kind within the industry.

MF: What are the unique selling points/benefits of your Business File?

CS: As mentioned before the main USP of our business file is the frequency of the cleansing cycle which will ensure your marketing budget is not wasted on data that is inaccurate. With data decaying at a rate of 37% per annum it is crucial your supplier is ahead of the game when cleansing their database. IDS provide industry leading data quality guarantees, which are all backed up within our terms and conditions, to ensure maximum revenue opportunities for clients and guarantees that their communications will be received by their target audience.

MF: Could you tell us more about the unique URN that ensures consistency throughout your database?

CS: A URN is the unique reference number that is used to identify each record on the IDS database. Every record on the database will have a different URN. The main benefits of using URN’s are to cross match client data for data append, supply and to run data suppression exercises.

MF: When you say that all your postal addresses provided are PAF validated, why is this and what are the benefits?

CS: The Postcode Address File (PAF) is managed and maintained by the Royal Mail and contains over 28 million addresses. PAF is primarily used for updating mailing lists and databases with the same address format that is held by the Royal Mail. It’s primary focus is to standardise the address structure. PAF validation can also help reduce postal costs when sending bulk mailers using the Royal Mail. Another use of the PAF file is its use and incorporation in address management software packages. The capabilities of such packages allow most addresses to be constructed solely from the postcode and house number. Although the file is comprehensive, it does not determine that a business is still trading or currently at that address. It will therefore omit a number of business or address that it does not list, reducing the accuracy and impact that a direct marketing campaign could have. The difference between IDS addresses is that we take the address directly from the business themselves which we feel will improve deliverability and accuracy

MF: Can you tell us more about your B2B email database opt in process?

CS: To ensure legal compliance and familiarity with our brand, IDS collects and verifies b2b email addresses utilising a UK call centre opting recipients in to our database for third party marketing communications. Upon receipt of collecting the email address we will then email the recipient to verify the accuracy of the address and also offering them the possibility to opt out of the database. As DMA (Direct Marketing Association) members it is imperative that we follow their guidelines and EU legislation with regard to the collection of email data for marketing purposes.